Sects and Violence
Is Faith Good for Us?
BY Phil Zuckerman
Phil Zuckerman is an associate professor of sociology at Pitzer College in California. He is the author of Invitation to the Sociology of Religion (Routledge, 2003) and is currently writing a book on secularization in Scandinavia. He writes:
“Whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Sikh, there is one common belief that all religious fundamentalists share: worship of God and obedience to his laws are essential for a peaceful, healthy society. From Orthodox rabbis in the occupied West Bank to Wahhabi sheiks in Saudi Arabia, from the pope in Vatican City to Mormons in Salt Lake City, the lament is the same: God and his will must be at the center of everyone’s lives in order to ensure a moral, prosperous, safe, collective existence.
Furthermore, fundamentalists agree that, when large numbers of people in a society reject God or fail to make him the center of their lives, societal disintegration is sure to follow. Every societal ill-whether crime, poverty, poor public education, or AIDS-is thus blamed on a lack of piety. A most disconcerting example of this world view was expressed in the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001, when Jerry Falwell blamed the terrorists attacks on America’s “throwing God out of the public square,” further adding that “when a nation deserts God and expels God from the culture . . . the result is not good.”
If this often-touted religious theory were correct-that a turning away from God is at the root of all societal ills-then we would expect to find the least religious nations on earth to be bastions of crime, poverty, and disease and the most religious nations to be models of societal health. A comparison of highly irreligious countries with highly religious countries, however, reveals a very different state of affairs. In reality, the most secular countries-those with the highest proportion of atheists and agnostics-are among the most stable, peaceful, free, wealthy, and healthy societies. And the most religious nations-wherein worship of God is in abundance-are among the most unstable, violent, oppressive, poor, and destitute.
Zuckerman concludes:
The information presented in this discussion in no way proves that high levels of organic atheism cause societal health or that low levels of organic atheism cause societal ills such as poverty or illiteracy. The wealth, poverty, well-being, and suffering in various nations are caused by numerous political, historical, economic, and sociological factors that are far more determinant than people’s personal belief systems. Rather, the conclusion to be drawn from the data provided above is simply that high levels of irreligion do not automatically result in a breakdown of civilization, a rise in immoral behavior, or in “sick societies.” Quite the opposite seems to be the case. Furthermore, religion is clearly not the simple and single path to righteous societies that religious fundamentalists seem to think it is. This fact must be vigorously asserted in response to the proclamations of politically active theists. From small-town school boards to the floor of the Senate, conservative Christians are championing religion as the solution to America’s societal problems. However, their pious “solution” is highly dubious and clearly not supported by the best available research of social science.”
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I have written about Phil Zuckerman’s work in several forums and I always get a lot of flack. Perhaps this is because I don’t stress the concept that needs stressing. Zuckerman (Gregory Paul and others) are not saying that secular societies fare better than non secular societies because of this single measure. What the research shows is that lack of adherents does not result in deterioration of societal health. The cause of this phenomenon has not been determined, but Gregory Paul suggested that health benefits provided to the entire population reduces anxiety that could make some people seek supernatural solutions. Perhaps it is not just medical care, but an entire host of social benefits provided by socialist states.
Conservatives may all now swoon. They have been decrying the evil political ideal of socialism for 60 years. Ronald Regan won the presidency railing against socialism and the right is still beating that drum.
Why not stop and seriously examine the facts?
http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=pzuckerman_26_5
| Posted on Sunday, March 29th, 2009 at 2:39 pm in Religion and society. | |
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